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OJC/CDS Building Wins Architecture Award
Otero Junior College’s Child Development Services (OJC/CDS) Migrant and
Seasonal Head Start School in Center, Colorado has been awarded the 2004
American Institute of Architects (AIA) Colorado Design Honor Award. The school
was completed in August of 2003 and was designed by Ron Faleide, of Faleide
Architects in Denver.
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| The OJC/CDS Migrant and
Seasonal Head Start School in Center, Colorado has been awarded the American
Institute of Architects Colorado Design Honor Award. |
Each year, AIA Colorado presents three levels of awards to projects either
completed in Colorado or completed by Colorado-based architects. The Honor Award
is the highest level award, granted to projects of "convincingly superior design
achievement."
According to Faleide, there were 123 projects submitted this year for these
awards, with only seven receiving recognition. The theme of the 2004 awards was
"Edges of Integration." In their request for submissions, AIA Colorado described
this year’s theme as follows: "We see the practice of architecture evolving
quickly. The specifics of how we work are being affected by so many external
forces - technology, the environment, economics, demographics, etc. Today’s
architecture is about change - how we recognize it, how we imagine it, and how
we make it a part of our work."
As winner of the Honor Award, the OJC/CDS Head Start School in Center reflects
Faleide’s ability to create enduring spaces that blend tradition and progress.
“The Head Start School’s design competed with many other projects across the
state of Colorado, including projects that were much larger and much more
expensive,” said Faleide. “This makes it clear that jurors who grant these
awards look solely at the quality of the design, without consideration of
budget. It also confirms a belief that drives my work; budget constraints
actually encourage good design because they require the architect to create new
solutions to old challenges,” he said.
Based in Denver, Faleide Architects has established a reputation over 30 years
for creating designs that enhance clients' quality of life where they work and
live. In addition to being highly respected by his clients, Ron Faleide has also
been regularly acknowledged by his profession. Most recently, he received two
awards from the AIA's Colorado chapter and one from the AIA's Denver chapter.
The firm's clients include corporations, schools, churches, restaurants, banks,
the U.S. government, and owners of fine homes and affordable housing.
Jim Rizzuto, president of Otero Junior College complimented Faleide for his
great vision in designing the building. “It is without a doubt a structural
asset that we can all be proud of for many years to come,” said Rizzuto.
The Migrant and Seasonal Head Start School that Faleide designed provides
services to over 100 children a year whose parents are migrant or seasonal farm
workers. The $800,000 facility was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. The facility contains four classroom cells and administrative
offices. The facility was built as a cooperative partnership with the San Luis
Valley Farm Worker Housing Corporation and is located at the corporation’s
Tierra Nueva Housing complex in Center.
Jim Rizzuto stated that the completion of this project symbolizes the ability of
various federal, state, local and private entities to work together to provide
services and complete projects that will benefit communities. “By working
together, we have been able to provide services to the migrant community, as
well as others in the San Luis Valley, in a cost effective manner,” said Rizzuto.
Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs are funded directly through the
Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. Programs are charged
with providing comprehensive educational, health, and social services to migrant
and seasonal farm worker families and their young children.
Since 1974 Otero Junior College has been one of 24 Migrant and Seasonal Head
Start grantees nationwide. The college administers Migrant and Seasonal Head
Start facilities through their Child Development Services organization in the
counties of Otero, Prowers, Crowley, Pueblo, Rio Grande, Saguache, Alamosa,
Conejos and Costilla.
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